CMA To Host Marketing Summit

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The cma-logoCountry Music Association will host its fourth annual Marketing Summit next week, designed to inform executives from national corportations about entering successful partnerships with country music and its artists. Brown-Forman, Chevy, Coca-Cola, Cotton Inc., Cracker Barrel, Dollar General, General Mills, Nissan, Shoney’s, Tasti D-Lite, TIAA CREF and Wrangler are among the big name companies on the docket.

The Summit will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 10 -11 in Nashville with educational panels, speakers, and case studies, with topics ranging from star-building, to tour sponsorships, to connecting with the consumer. Executives will be introduced to the CMA Awards, CMA Music Festival, as well as other Country Music events and artists. In addition, there will be a presentation from ABC Television Network executives about their commitment to Country, including the CMA Awards and CMA Music Festival television specials.

Attendees will observe the taping of a television show at GAC, take a tour of a recording studio, experience the recording process with Jamie O’Neal, and witness intimate acoustic performances by rising artists. Julie Talbott, Executive VP of Premiere Radio Networks, will host a tour of the Premiere Radio remotes broadcasting nationally from Nashville and participants will get a behind-the-scenes VIP tour of the CMA Awards. The Summitt culminates with “The 43rd Annual CMA Awards” on Nov. 11.

3 Doors Down Local Side Project, Golf Tournament

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3 Doors Down

Local musicians Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down), Jon Nicholson (Muzik Mafia), Kenny Olson (Kid Rock’s band), and Shannon Boone have formed a new band called 7dayBinge. They recorded their self-titled debut album recently at the Sound Kitchen and will release it via Rock Ridge Music. The self-produced album will be available digitally on Dec. 8, and in hard copy on Jan. 26, 2010.

Meanwhile, Harrell’s 3 Doors Down bandmates are planning the first annual Rivergate Studios Celebrity Rock-n-Golf Tournament to benefit Lyrics for Life, the non-profit organization that helps fight childhood cancer. Tournament players will join more than 25 music and sports celebrities including Gary Allan, 3 Doors Down, Sister Hazel, Halfway To Hazard, 38 Special, and Ira Dean on Mon., Nov. 9 at Hendersonville’s Bluegrass Yacht and Country Club. An after party/all-star jam will follow at 12th And Porter. Rivergate Studios, co-owned by Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down) and Bobby Capps (38 Special), is co-hosting the event. Sponsorships and VIP golf packages are available at www.rivergatestudios.net.

Industry Poll: Who Will Win Entertainer?

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MusicRow.com has just posted an industry poll on the home page. Vote anonymously and tell us who you think will take home the big prize at next week’s CMA Awards. A new fan poll by CMT.com says Taylor Swift will win Entertainer of the Year on Nov. 11.

If Swift wins, she’ll become the youngest artist ever to win Entertainer and join an elite group of only six other women ― the Dixie Chicks, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Reba and Shania Twain ― who have received the CMA’s highest honor. A win in this category would also mark the first win for a female since the Dixie Chicks took the top prize in 2000.

CMT commissioned its annual poll using a random sample of 1,000 country music fans ages 18 and older. Complete CMT poll results are as follows:
1) Entertainer of the Year – Taylor Swift
2) Album of the Year – Taylor Swift’s Fearless
3) Song of the Year – Carrie Underwood’s “I Told You So” written by Randy Travis
4) Female Vocalist of the Year – Taylor Swift
5) Male Vocalist of the Year – George Strait
6) Vocal Group of the Year – Rascal Flatts
7) Vocal Duo of the Year – Brooks and Dunn

CMT goes live with its annual, exclusive coverage of the CMA Awards Red Carpet on Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00-8:00 p.m., ET/PT.

[poll id=”14″]

Artists Lend Names To Charity

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Buddy Jewell

Buddy Jewell, Stella Parton and Adam Gregory will be the Ambassadors of Goodwill for World Orphans Day 2009 on Nov. 9. They will hold a candlelight vigil to raise awareness at the The People’s Church East Lawn in Franklin, TN at 4:00 p.m. CST. Gregory will also lead students and youth groups in a mile walk starting at the Franklin Family YMCA at 4:00 p.m. and concluding at The People’s Church for the festivities. The event is free and open to the public.

Jewell has also teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for The 2010 Fans of Buddy Jewell Calendar. Photos for each month of the year will be submitted by fans. The finished calendar will be sold through Café Press, and net proceeds will benefit St. Jude. Info on being included in the calendar at www.buddyjewell.com.

Bucky Covington will be the Celebrity Ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation, Tennessee Chapter’s Jingle Bell 5K Run/Walk events. He’ll appear at five different races throughout the state.

Rascal Flatts will be lending their voices and support to The Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways marketing campaign. Led by the Department of Tourist Development, the statewide initiative will include television spots and use the group’s hit “Life is a Highway.”

Currington To Macy’s Parade, Martina on Oprah

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BillyCurringtonBilly Currington will perform during the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The event in New York City will be co-hosted by Today’s Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, and Al Roker, and will air on NBC from 9:00 a.m.-noon in all time zones. Other guests include Andrea Bocelli, Boys Like Girls, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Gloria Gaynor, Katherine McPhee, and Carly Simon.

martinaMartina McBride made her second appearance on Oprah in two weeks yesterday (11/3). The first episode showed McBride’s performance at the State Fair of Texas and for yesterday’s installment she returned to her home state of Kansas for a show about celebrities’ first jobs. She used to serve ice cream and burgers at her hometown DQ, so Oprah’s crew took Martina back to revisit the Hutchinson, Kansas Dairy Queen which is still owned by the same couple who employed her after high school.
McBride’s Shine All Night Tour presented by SunnyD starring Trace Adkins kicks off November 20th and covers 40 cities across the U.S. through the spring of 2010.

Lifenotes: Billy Deaton [updated 11/3]

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Updated: Arrangements for Billy Deaton. Visitation will be Thursday, November 5 from 4-7 PM at Woodlawn Funeral Home. The funeral will be Friday, November 6 at 11:30 AM, also at Woodlawn Funeral Home.

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Longtime Music Row talent agent Billy Deaton died Saturday evening, Oct. 31. He was 74 and had battled a lengthy illness.

Deaton came to Nashville in 1969 to handle Faron Young’s booking and management. He established The Deaton Agency and throughout his 30 years in business, worked in various capacities with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Mel Tillis, Bill Anderson, and Tom T. Hall.

He had a hand in writing and publishing the country hits, “Louisiana Man,” and “Wine Me Up!”

Deaton was an active member of the Nashville Association of Talent Directors. He was a former officer of the organization and received numerous awards from NATD. The Mississippi native and Air Force veteran was known around Nashville as “The Deacon.”

Visitation is planned for Thurs., Nov. 5, with funeral services to be held on Fri., Nov. 6. Details are incomplete at this time.

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Music City Walk of Fame Names New Class

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dollyTootsie Bess, Charlie Daniels, Dolly Parton, Kid Rock and Ernest Tubb will join the Music City Walk of Fame. This seventh class of inductees will be recognized with the unveiling of commemorative sidewalk markers on Sun., Nov. 8, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Park in downtown Nashville. The induction ceremony, which is sponsored by Great American Country (GAC), is free and open to the public.

Created in the fall of 2006, the Music City Walk of Fame, on Nashville’s Music Mile, is a landmark tribute to those from all genres who have made significant contributions to Nashville’s musical heritage as performers or members of the industry. With the induction of this new class of honorees, there will be 42 total stars along the Walk of Fame.

The Music City Walk of Fame is an official project of Music City, Inc., the charitable foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau (NCVB), and is produced with the support of presenting sponsor Gibson Guitar and sponsors GAC, the City of Nashville and Metro Parks.

Bug Music Adds Emerson Hart To Roster

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Emerson Hart

Emerson Hart

Bug Music has signed Emerson Hart, best known as the songwriter and frontman of multi-platinum rock group Tonic.

Under terms of the agreement, Bug Music and Hart have entered into a co-publishing deal encompassing Hart’s future recordings and his critically-acclaimed 2007 solo album Cigarettes and Gasoline.

Hart, who relocated to Nashville within the last few years, has been busy collaborating in Music City with other artists and his recently regrouped band. Tonic is recording an album to be released next spring on 429/Savoy.

Tonic has sold upwards of 4 million units, had six Top 10 singles, and several Grammy nominations. One of the band’s biggest hits was “If You Could Only See.” After a decade together, Tonic took a break and Hart released his solo album which spawned two Top 20 singles.

Bug Music’s more than 250,000 copyrights include classics such as “What a Wonderful World,” “Fever” and “Happy Together,” as well as songs from Johnny Cash, Pete Townshend, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ashley Gorley, Kings of Leon, and numerous others.

Lyric Street Shutters Carolwood Imprint

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[Press Release] Lyric Street/Carolwood Records President Randy Goodman announced today (11/3) the restructuring of that Group’s imprints, which functionally will mean the shuttering of the year-old Carolwood Records while strengthening the Lyric Street promotion staff as both John Ettinger and Chris Palmer, Carolwood Sr. Directors, will move to Lyric Street Records, augmenting that already seasoned team.

In this transition, John Ettinger has been tapped to lead the newly restructured Lyric Street Records Regional Staff as Sr. National Director, which includes long-time veterans Renee Leymon, Chris Palmer, Neda Tobin, Theresa Ford, Michelle Tyrrell, and Kris Lamb. Ettinger will report to Kevin Herring, VP of Promotion for Lyric Street Records. Carolwood Promotion Coordinator, Katie McCartney, will segue to Sales/Marketing while current Lyric Street Promotion Coordinator, Jackie Schwarz, will continue in that role for the newly structured Lyric Street regional staff.

Dale Turner, VP of Promotional Marketing, will continue in his current role, also reporting to Herring, and supported by Coordinator Landon Morgan.

Carolwood staffers, Dave Collins, Trudie Daniell, and Stephanie Keshe, will immediately leave the imprint and can be reached at the contact information below.

Current charted Carolwood artists Love and Theft, and Trent Tomlinson, will be folded into the Lyric Street stable and thus worked by the newly reorganized team but will continue to carry the Carolwood label for their current product.

Goodman concluded, “I am very optimistic that this newly organized, aggregated Team will bring new focus and energy to our entire staff and roster and thus have great expectations that they will be the catalyst for resetting us towards better serving our Artists and Radio partners while achieving our cost goals.”

The newly consolidated Lyric Street roster includes multi-platinum superstar group Rascal Flatts; Platinum selling sisters SHeDAISY; American Idol alum Bucky Covington; new group break-thru Love and Theft, Trent Tomlinson, Sarah Buxton and new and developing artists, Ruby Summer, Tyler Dickerson, Kevin Fowler and The Parks.

Contact information for former Carolwood staffers:
Dave Collins: (480) 223-8337
Trudie Daniell: (770) 843-2858
Stephanie Keshe: (615) 418-3519

Strait, Reba Set For Big Arena Tour

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George Strait

George Strait

George Strait’s 2010 arena tour will feature fellow superstar Reba McEntire. The outing will kick off Jan. 22 in Baltimore, MD, and has concerts scheduled through April 10 in Des Moines, IA. Dates include nearby stops in Memphis, Knoxville, and Atlanta but not Nashville.

Strait recently released Twang, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums Chart and McEntire has recently released Keep On Loving You, her first solo studio album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart.

scaled_e1257218243The genre leaders have enormous career achievements, including McEntire’s sales of over 55 million albums worldwide, and 33 No. 1 singles. Strait boasts 57 No. 1 singles, and sales of over 67 million worldwide.

When they performed together at the Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium inaugural event in June, the show sold out in less than an hour.